- Safe alternative to change eye color
- Tattoo: on the body yes, on the eye no
- Why eye tattoos appeared
Although it may have aesthetic appeal to some people, eyeball tattooing is a technique with quite a lot of health risks, as it consists of injecting ink into the white part of the eye, which is made up of very sensitive tissues.
Because it contains different types of chemicals, the injected ink has a high probability of causing irritation of the internal structures of the eye, which can result in several serious consequences, such as:
- Permanent blurry vision; Excessive sensitivity to light; Constant headache; Frequent feeling of dust in the eye.
In addition, as it is necessary to insert a needle into the ocular conjunctiva, the protective barrier of the eye is broken and, therefore, it is easier for various types of microorganisms to enter the inner layers, which ends up causing serious infections. Depending on the type and degree of the infection, the affected person may develop permanent blindness.
For all these reasons, eye tattooing for aesthetic improvement in people with healthy vision is contraindicated by most ophthalmologists, including the Brazilian Council of Ophthalmology and the Brazilian Society of Ophthalmology, for example.
Safe alternative to change eye color
A safe way to change eye color, without the risks associated with eye tattooing, is to use colored contact lenses.
There are two types of lenses that can be used, depending on the aesthetic effect you are trying to achieve:
- Colored contact lenses: these lenses only cover the iris and therefore help to change the color of the central region of the eye. Thus, people with brown eyes, may have blue or green eyes, for example; Colored scleral lenses: they are larger than normal contact lenses and cover the whole eye, creating an effect similar to that of the tattoo, but in a safe and temporary way.
Although they are considered to be generally safe for health, care must be taken with the use of these lenses, such as avoiding using them for more than 8 hours in a row and ensuring proper hygiene. See other precautions to be taken when using contact lenses.
Tattoo: on the body yes, on the eye no
In general, tattooing on the skin is not considered a dangerous practice, as the skin prevents the absorption of most chemical components and, in addition, the most recent pigments are created based on organic substances.
However, when this type of paints is injected into the eye, it is in direct contact with very sensitive tissues that can easily absorb chemical substances, become irritated and even suffer permanent injuries, resulting in all the serious consequences indicated above.
Thus, although tattooing on the skin can be a very common and common practice to improve the aesthetics of the body, it should not be used to improve the appearance of the eye.
Why eye tattoos appeared
The eye tattoo was created to be used only on blind people who had changes in eye pigmentation, which they would like to correct.
Thus, this type of tattoo should not be used on people with healthy eyesight, even if it is done by experienced professionals, as it has numerous health risks, including definitive blindness.
